The Home Office has published a damning report revealing a host of failures by Avon Fire and Rescue Service, calling for the resignation of senior officials.

The fire authority which covers areas such as Bath, North Somerset and Bristol is said to have "deep seated cultural issues" and operates like an "old boys club", the Bristol Post reports.

The report , which highlights seven key points, says it protects the interests of its senior management team over the needs of the community and taxpayers.

Dr Craig Baker's report suggests there have been backdoor payouts, secret meetings, bullying and that there is a lack of racial diversity.

He is now calling for sweeping reforms and the resignation of several members of the senior team.

Dr Baker said: “I believe the lack of change amongst senior management has gone beyond the point of stability and continuity.

“I conclude that it is now the time for the leadership of the authority to be revitalised in order to drive improvements in economy, efficiency and effectiveness.”

Report's Key Points:

· Authority is working for the benefit of senior workers rather than community and tax payer

· Chief Officer Kevin Pearson has two pensions and retired in 2009 only to be reinstated the day after

· Two Deputy Chief Fire Officers have received £25,000 increases to boost their pensions

· There is a lack of scrutiny and transparency in the service

· There is a culture of bullying and defence in the service

· Three year cover-up of a lost laptop with “highly sensitive data about a large number of vulnerable children”

· The report calls for the resignation of top bosses

Rumours about underhand pay-outs and off-the-record agreements have dogged Avon Fire Service for many years, but it was only in February that an independent government investigation was issued.

Now, after five months, the investigation report is even more damning than anticipated and lays the blame squarely at the door of senior bosses.

Chief Fire Officer Kevin Pearson

A large section of the report is dedicated to irregularities in the pay of senior staff, particularly Chief Fire Officer Kevin Pearson.

Mr Pearson took up his role in 2001. He retired in September 2009 but was immediately re-employed the following day and his pension abated.

Chief Fire Officer at Avon Fire and Rescue Service - Kevin Pearson

In 2011, Mr Pearson took a pay reduction of 22 per cent, but was able to draw from his pension and bring it up to the former amount. The report describes this as an “illusory sacrifice”.

He was also given access to another pension on top of his £111,000 firefighter’s pension scheme, which was not presented with a business case to the relevant scrutiny committee.

Two year’s ago, Mr Pearson was given a £10,000 increase in salary from £132,310 to £142,020 and other senior staff were given raises above the rate of inflation with no clear business case or explanation.

This year, Kevin Pearson was being paid a salary of £144,854 a year, plus other benefits.

The report states that these “pay increases to enable a person already on a full firefighters’ pension to obtain an additional pension” does not meet what is “acceptable use of public funds”.

Dr Baker said: "Ultimately the responsibility for effective governance and scrutiny arrangements rest with [the Chief Fire Officer] and as such the post holder is accountable for any failings.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Jerry O'Brien

Another example in the report details how former Deputy Chief Fire Officer Jerry O'Brien agreed to take a secondment which would give him a salary boost of £25,000 for one year before retiring in March 2012.

The secondment did not exist, but Mr O'Brien was able to keep the additional money, which also increased his final salary pension allowance.

Former deputy chief fire officer, Jerry O'Brien

If Mr O'Brien had not received the £25,000 he would have received a pension of £71,000 per year, but thanks to the extra money he now receives £83,000.

Dr Baker has calculated that this will cost the service an extra £365,000.

A similar deal was struck behind the scenes with the next Deputy Chief Fire officer Jon Day who took on the role permanently in 2012, but has since left.

He again was given an allowance lift of £25,000 in 2013 if he agreed to retire a year later. This final year increase saw his final salary pension jump from £62,000 to £75,000. This is calculated to cost the service an extra £365,000.

The current Deputy Chief Fire Officer earns £113,600 a year.

HR director Maggie Harte

The format was also followed in 2011 when a former HR director Maggie Harte, who had taken four months off from stress, approached Mr Pearson.

In August of that year it was agreed that she would be seconded for ten months before retiring with payments continuing to her pension for three years.

Dr Baker said: “These examples provide a strong sense that for many years the authority has been run for the benefit of its workforce – and particularly senior officers – and consideration for the community and taxpayers was secondary.”

He also found that some meetings were held in senior officers’ homes without proper minutes recorded and states that people required to scrutinise the senior team were not given access to appropriate information, or were given information at the last minute.

In addition, rather than following the national trend of removing layers of middle-management, Avon Fire Service has actually increased the number of middle managers at great cost to the service.

Culture

A “defensive” culture in the service has also been heavily criticised in the Home Office report and Dr Baker states that senior staff seek to protect the ‘Avon way’ rather than make progress.

This is apparent in a focus “internal promotions” and a strong “stranger danger” fear at new people entering the organisation.

The report also found that “bullying and harassment is endemic in the organisation” which is particularly significant for junior and Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff.

While one BAME firefighter approached Dr Baker during the investigation to say he has a positive experience of the service, a group of former BAME staff said they received “poor treatment ranging from explicit harassment and bullying to cold-shouldering by managers after complaints had been made”.

The report goes on to describe the group as having had “traumatic and damages” in the organisation.

It also states that the service as a whole has “serious issues with the equality and diversity of its workforce with just 2 per cent of staff coming from BAME backgrounds compared to the 4 per cent national average.

Problems in culture of senior team

The Home Office also found issues with the culture in the senior team. In 2006, three new members of staff were recruited in to the team, but within seven years all had left under “acrimonious circumstances”.

The trio had attempted to implement reforms to the service and were met with resistance which produced a “schism” in the team. Their departure cost the service almost £1million.

Another example raised in the report was the split in the Fire Authority management team in 2015.

New team members raised concerns about the service and but after an investigation the authority ruled that the matter was closed and no further action was to be taken.

Mr Pearson wrote to members and said that the historic allegations were part of a “malicious campaign to destabilize the fire authority”.

He added: “If any member feels unable to accept the will of the majority then they should seriously consider their position as a member of this authority.”

Mr Pearson also applied to B&NES council for emails which mention his name sent by three Fire Authority members

Mr Pearson put in a formal complaint about the content of the emails and then Chair of the Fire Authority, Peter Abraham, asked the councillors to “consider” their positions and “resign [their] membership”.

Dr Baker said that the councillors “did not deserve the excessively hostile and severe response” and that it was “inappropriate” for Mr Abraham, a Bristol city councillor, to call for their resignation.

The councillors did not resign, but Mr Pearson submitted a formal complaint about them.

Missing Laptop

The level of internal protection is so high that in 2012 a laptop containing “highly sensitive data about a large number of vulnerable children” was missing for up to six weeks.

Once the loss was discovered bosses failed to carry out the correct process and report it to the Information Commissioner.

The missing laptop was only reported to the commissioner three years later by someone outside of the service.

Dr Baker said: “While this incident was one win which in the event no harm was apparently done, it did exemplify a culture based around defence first.

“A defensive culture stands in the way of continuous improvement as it does not acknowledge mistakes, let alone learn from them.”

The report concludes that the service has “not been working effectively for many years and is still not now”, but recognised that some improvements had started to be made.

He states that support staff are not experienced enough to hold the management to account, senior bosses are not fit to make the necessary changes and do not realise that matters “must improve significantly”.

Dr Baker added that the senior management board and the authority have “attempted to block any meaningful inquiry in to issues raised in the past”.

He recommends that the leadership of Avon Fire Service is “revitalised” and several members removed.